WISH: Urban and Rural Counties

County urban and rural designations can be based on different censuses and methodologies. As a result, urban and rural status is not the same across methods and/or time periods.

The injury-related emergency department visits (2016+) and injury-related hospitalizations (2016+) queries each use two different map definitions based on the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy (FORHP) classification. One for pre-2020 and one for 2020 and after. These are updated with each census, so we have slightly different county classifications for each decade.

Map of Wisconsin showing rural and urban areas 2010-2019

Map of Wisconsin showing rural and urban areas 2020-2029

The urban and rural breakdown currently used in the injury-related mortality and violent death queries is based on the map as seen in the Wisconsin Office of Rural Health (WORH) Rural Wisconsin Health report. However, these queries will also move to the FORHP classification in the future.

Map of Wisconsin showing rural and urban areas

List of urban and rural counties

County	FORHP 2010-2019	FORHP 2020+	WORP
Adams, Ashland, Barron, Bayfield	Rural	Rural	Rural
Brown	Urban	Urban	Urban
Buffalo, Burnett	Rural	Rural	Rural
Calumet, Chippewa	Urban	Urban	Urban
Clark	Rural	Rural	Rural
Columbia	Rural	Rural	Urban
Crawford	Rural	Rural	Rural
Dane	Urban	Urban	Urban
Dodge, Door	Rural	Rural	Rural
Douglas	Urban	Urban	Urban
Dunn	Rural	Rural	Rural
Eau Claire	Urban	Urban	Urban
Florence	Rural	Rural	Rural
Fond du Lac	Urban	Urban	Urban
Forest, Grant	Rural	Rural	Rural
Green	Rural	Rural	Urban
Green Lake	Rural	Rural	Rural
Iowa	Rural	Rural	Urban
Iron, Jackson, Jefferson, Juneau	Rural	Rural	Rural
Kenosha	Urban	Urban	Urban
Kewaunee	Rural	Rural	Urban
La Crosse	Urban	Urban	Urban
Lafayette, Langlade, Lincoln, Manitowoc	Rural	Rural	Rural
Marathon	Urban	Urban	Urban
Marinette, Marquette, Menominee	Rural	Rural	Rural
Milwaukee	Urban	Urban	Urban
Monroe	Rural	Rural	Rural
Oconto	Urban	Rural	Urban
Oneida	Rural	Rural	Rural
Outagamie, Ozaukee	Urban	Urban	Urban
Pepin	Rural	Rural	Rural
Pierce	Rural	Rural	Urban
Polk, Portage, Price	Rural	Rural	Rural
Racine	Urban	Urban	Urban
Richland	Rural	Rural	Rural
Rock	Urban	Urban	Urban
Rusk	Rural	Rural	Rural
St. Croix	Urban	Rural	Urban
Sauk, Sawyer, Shawano	Rural	Rural	Rural
Sheboygan	Urban	Urban	Urban
Taylor, Trempealeau	Rural	Rural	Rural
Vernon	Rural	Urban	Rural
Vilas, Walworth, Washburn	Rural	Rural	Rural
Washington, Waukesha	Urban	Urban	Urban
Waupaca, Waushara	Rural	Rural	Rural
Winnebago	Urban	Urban	Urban
Wood	Rural	Rural	Rural

List of urban and rural counties

Glossary